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William Davis Gallagher 



A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. 



B Y- 



W. H. VENABLE. 



" I have recently had a letter from dear old Galla- 
gher—your western Whittier. What a noble face his 
photograph discloses." 

E. C. Ste/dman. 



c 



WILLIAM DAVIS GALLAGHER. 

By W. H. Venable. 

William Davis Gallagher, poet, editor, and public 
official, was born in Philadelphia, August 21, 1808. His 
father, Bernard Gallagher, familiarly called " Barney," was 
an Irishman, a Roman Catholic, a participant in the rebel- 
lion that, in 1803, cost Robert Emmett his life. " Barney""' 
Gallagher migrated to the United States, landing at the 
city of brotherly love, where, by the aid of John Binns, 
editor of the " Shamrock," he obtained work. Some time 
afterward he became acquainted with Miss Abigail Davis, 
of Bridgeport, New Jersey, who had been sent to Phila- 
delphia by her widowed mother, to complete, at Quaker 
school, an education begun at home. "Abbey" Davis was 
the daughter of a Welsh farmer, who, volunteering in the 
Revolutionary War, lost his life under Washington at 
Valley Forge. The Irish refugee and the Welsh patriot's 
daughter were so much attracted to each other that they 
joined their lives in wedlock. Four sons, Edward, Francis, 
William and John were the issue of this marriage. The 
third was a child not eight years old when the father died. 
On his death-bed Bernard Gallagher refused to confess to 
his ministering priest the secrets of Free Masonry, which 
order he had joined, and the church not only refused him 
burial in consecrated grounds, but also condemned his 
body to be exposed to public derision in front of his own 
door ; and the execution of this sentence was prevented 
by application for police interference. This was in 1814. 

Two years after her husband's death, Mrs. Gallagher 
and her four sons, joining a small " Jersey Colony," 
removed west, crossing the mountains in a four-horsed 
and four-belled wagon of the old time, and floating 
down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati in 

358 



William Davis Gallagher. 

a strongly built and well-provided flat-boat of the period. 
The boy William amused himself during the whole " river 
voyage" by fishing out of the window of the boat. "I 
was sorry," said he, "when the boat landed and put an 
end to my fun." 

The widow and her family located on a farm near Mount 
Healthy, now Mount Pleasant, Hamilton county, in the 
neighborhood of the Carys. Mrs. Gallagher and the mother 
of Alice and Phcebe Cary were near of kin, and the chil- 
dren of the two families were, of course, intimate. 

Young William was put to work by his mother and his 
uncle at the various tasks a country lad is expected to do. 
In winter he went to school in a log school house. The 
teacher's name was Samuel Woodworth, whose scholars 
always addressed him as "Sir" Woodworth, such was the 
law of manners and the dignity of the preceptor's office in 
those days. Under guidance of "Sir" Woodworth, Master 
Gallagher grew familiar with the literary treasures of the 
"American Reader," and the "Columbian Orator." The 
boy was fond of these books, and still more enamored of 
the rosy-cheeked girls of Mount Healthy. Envious rivals 
taunted him by calling him " girl-boy," and the jeer caused 
fist-fights and bleeding noses. Not even the charms of the 
bare-footed maidens at spelling school " worked with such 
a spell" on "Billy" (for that was his nickname), as did 
the attractions of the woods. What so seductive to the 
natural boy as the unfenced forest? What so much cov- 
eted as freedom to ramble over the hills and far away? 
Gallagher's ruling instinct, in boyhood and manhood, 
was admiration of nature — especially love of woodland 
scenery. His young feet trod every hill and valley about 
Mount Healthy and along Mill creek, whose remembered 
banks he long after celebrated as " Mahketewa's Flowery 
Marge." Well did he know the wild flowers and native 
birds. He plucked spicy grapes, or luscious pawpaws, 
in season, and gathered hoards of hickory nuts to crack 
by the winter fire. In summer weather, he found hidden 



Ohio ArchcBological and Historical Qtiarterly. 

springs, and traced wandering brooks from source to mouth. 

One day the prepossessing boy, with his cheerful, ruddy 
face, was observed by a Mrs. Graham, of Clermont county, 
Ohio, who was visiting at Mount Healthy. Mrs. Graham 
was so much pleased with " Billy " that she begged his 
mother to allow him to return to Clermont county with 
her, and live there for a time and do "chores." "Want 
my boy?" said the widow mother, with tears of protest. 
Yet, on reflection, she consented to the proposal, and Wil- 
liam went with the lady to Clermont county, where, for 
perhaps a year, he worked at " Graham's Mill." After his 
return home he resumed farm-work on the place of David 
Jessup. The toil was hard, but relief was found in stolen 
escapes to the woods; or to Cummins' tan-yard, where 
some pet bears were kept ; or to Spring Grove, where was 
a herd of tame buffaloes. Sometimes he was sent to Irv- 
ing's mill, and while waiting for his grist he would sit un- 
der a certain tree, which to-day stands within the enclosure 
of Spring Grove cemetery, and read one of his few books, 
usually the " Columbian Orator." 

The routine of the youth's drudgery was broken by the 
thoughtful interest of his oldest brother Edward, who, vis- 
iting the Jessup farm, saw that William was working " like 
a nigger," as he expressed it, and insisted that the boy 
should be put to school. A consultation of mother, brother 
and uncle was held, and it was decided that Billy should 
go to town and attend the Lancastrian Seminary, he prom- 
ising not to waste time by truancy in the woods or along 
the alluring shores of the Ohio. The Lancastrian Semi- 
nary, conducted by Edmund Harrison, was opened in 
March, 1815. George Harrison, one of the sons of the 
principal, took a kindly interest in the ingenuous country 
boy, and gave him an opportunity, while yet a student in 
the school, to learn to " set type," in the office of a small 
paper called The Reviembrancer^ edited by Rev. David 
Root, pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church. The 
paper was printed at a small office in a building up " old 



William Davis Gallagher. 

post-office alley," west of Main Street, between Third and 
Fourth Streets. Here Gallagher received his first lessons 
in the printer's art and in proof-reading. The most puz- 
zling part of the work was to understand and correct the 
poetry^ which seemed, to the embryo editor, absurd for the 
reason that it was not written in prose. " I wondered," 
said he, referring to this experience after a lapse of sixty 
years, "why the stupid contributors didn't put what they 
had to say plainly, instead of cutting it up ridiculously, in 
short lines, with capitals at one end and rhymes at the 
other." 

In 1826 Hon. James W. Gazlay started an agricultural 
paper called The Western Tiller, and young Gallagher was 
employed as general assistant in its management. Not 
only did he attend to the mechanical department, but 
he also ventured to write, and became so expert with the 
pen that, on occasion, Gazlay left him in charge of the 
paper, jokingly declaring that "Billy" had superseded 
him as editor. 

Mr. Gazlay disposed of The Tiller in 1828 to Wm. J. 
Ferris, and Gallagher's services were then engaged, for a 
time, by Mr. S. J. Brown, proprietor of the Cincinnati 
Emporium, a newspaper founded in 1824. Brown was per- 
sonally remarkable for his lisping, and he often boasted 
that he was "thole editor of the Thinthinnati Fmporium.'' 
Gallagher's connection with the Emporium was urief. His 
next newspaper experience was with the Commercial Reg- 
ister, the first daily in Cincinnati. This journal, edited by 
Morgan Neville and published by S. S. Brooks, survived 
only six months. While engaged on the Register, Gal- 
lagher was requested by his brother Francis to take part in 
the joint production of a new literary periodical. With 
precipitate zeal the brothers plunged into the enterprise, 
and the Western Minerva was born almost as soon as con- 
ceived. This new daughter of Jove was named in the 
classical style of the time, and after an eastern magazine 
then flourishing. The Western Minerva, notwithstanding 



Ohio Archceological and Historical Quarterly. 

its divine name, died in about a year, and hardly deserves 
an epitaph. In the year 1824 Mr. John P. Foote pub- 
lished the Literary Gazette, for which W. D. Gallagher 
wrote his first verses. He was then only sixteen, and the 
tripping " Lines on Spring," which he sent through the 
mail to Mr. Foote, were signed "Julia." 

On January i, 1826, F. Burton began to publish the 
Cincinnati Saturday Evening Chronicle, with Benjamin F. 
Drake as editor. Mr. Gallagher wrote for the Chronicle, 
under the pseudonym " Rhoderick," and his friend, Otway 
Curry, contributed to it also, signing his articles "Ab- 
dallah." 

In the suMimer of 1828, Gallagher, not yet of age, went 
to Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, to visit his brother John, who 
attended school there. A violent contest for the governor- 
ship was raging between the Whig candidate, David Mer- 
riwether, "Old Stone-Hammer," and the fierce Democratic 
orator,W. T. Barry, one of Clay's respected forensic rivals. 
Gallagher espoused the Whig cause by writing for a party 
newspaper conducted at Mt. Sterling by Weston F. Birch. 
While meditating editorials, laudatory of "Old Stone- 
Hammer," the sojourning knight of the goose-quill re- 
ceived intelligence that his brother Francis was lying ill 
at Natchez. William bought a horse and rode from Mount 
Sterling to Louisville ; thence, by steamboat, he completed 
the journey to Natchez. The horse-back trip through 
Kentucky was crowded with incident. One evening the 
traveler came to the gate of a large house, which a black 
servant told him belonged to General James Taylor. The 
General was not at home, but his wife, a stately lady, very 
hospitably invited the young stranger to dismount and rest 
awhile under her roof. The black slave put the horse in 
the stable, and the bashful rider followed the courteous 
southern matron into the big house, and was there treated 
to a glass of "Metheglin," mixed by her own fair hands. 
Pursuing his further adventures, the romantic "Rhod- 
erick," arrived at Ashland and announced himself as a 



William Davis Gallagher. 

" Young Whig from Ohio," who desired to pay his respects 
to Henry Clay. The distinguished " Harry of the West" 
came out and cordially greeted the pilgrim, and asked him 
to stay all night, but the honor was gracefully declined. 

Passing through Louisville he saw, where now the finest 
part of the city is built, a swampy wildernes, populous with 
beaver. The open-eyed traveler observed everything, and 
wrote from Mississippi a series of descriptive letters for the 
Chronicle. These were read by many, and their author was 
talked about as a smart young fellow, worthy to be encour- 
aged. One of the first to recognize his talents and speak 
in his praise was the educator, Milo G. Williams. Galla- 
gher returned to Cincinnati to find himself quite a local 
lion. Doubtless, the people thought still better of him 
when it was known he had saved a few dollars by self- 
denial, and that he was desirous of securing for his mother 
a home of her own. He bought a ground lot of Nicholas 
Longworth, the eccentric pioneer millionaire, but had not 
the means to build a house. " See here, Billy," suggested 
Mr. Longworth, " I want you to build a house for your 
mother ; now, can you raise money enough to buy the 
lumber? Get the lumber, and I will build the house, and 
you may pay me when you are able." The offer was ac- 
cepted; the house was built, and paid for in easy pay- 
ments. The house was situated on the north side of 
Fourth street, between " Western Row, " now Central 
avenue, and John street, and overlooked the sloping plain 
that lay between the bluff on which it stood and the Ohio 
river, and the mouth of Mill creek ; and took in, most pic- 
turesquely and charmingly, what is now the town plot of 
Covington, and the beautiful hills of Ludlow, one of which 
was crowned with the celebrated Carneal House, oi 
"Egyptian Hall." 

We have seen that Gallagher was an enthusiastic Whig 
and a worshipper of Clay. It is not strange that, in 18305 
he was persuaded by some of the prominent Whigs of Green 
county to cast his fortunes on the hazard of a " tooth-and 



OJiio Archcsological and Historical Quarterly. 

toe-nails " campaign newspaper, at Xenia, Ohio. Even the 
mother's new house was sold to provide an outfit for a small 
printing office, and, in a short time, the Backwoodsman 
was issued, a sheet devoted generally to hurrahing for Clay 
and specially to using up Jimmy Gardner, editor of the Jack- 
son organ of Xenia. Gallagher was elated to see his first 
leader copied in the National Journal^ and to learn that Clay 
himself had read it with approval. In the course of the 
campaign a banquet was given to the Ashland hero, at Yel- 
low Springs, Ohio, on which occasion the modest editor of 
the Backzvoodsvian was surprised and abashed on finding 
that the committee of arrangements had trapped him into 
a seat just opposite the great statesman, who, it appears, 
requested to have an opportunity of talking with"that bright 
young man from Xenia who writes so well." 

All this was pleasant enough ; but the Backwoodsman 
despite its cleverness, was doomed to fail with the failing 
political fortunes of its idol. The man who " would rather 
be right than be President" was not chosen President, and 
consequently Gallagher's labor of love was lost, and with it 
all his money and much of his self-confidence. 

One of the pleasant incidents of Gallagher's life at Xenia 
took place in the office of the Backwoodsman in the sum- 
mer of 1830. One day a gentleman called and asked to see 
the editor. The printer's devil ran up stairs where Galla- 
gher was at work, and gave the message : "A man down 
there wants to see you ; he says his name is Prentice." He 
of the Backwoodsman^ in a flurry, would brush up and 
wash his inky hands before presenting himself to the late 
editor of the New England Review, but George shouts from 
below, " Never mind black fingers ! " and the next minute 
the two young journalists meet and join hands. Prentice 
was on his way to Lexington to prepare his " Life of 
Clay." _ 

By far the most important event of Mr. Gallagher's life 
at Xenia was his marriage to Miss Emma Adamson, a 
daughter of Captain Adamson, of Boston. 



William Davis Gallagher. 

Some brilliant worldly expectations had been built on 
Ihe assumption that Clay would be President ; and when 
ihe campaign ended in disappointment, the newly wedded 
pair knew not which way to look for a living. Just about 
this dark time it came into the mind of John H. Wood, a 
Cincinnati book-seller, to start a literary paper in connec- 
tion with his business, and he invited Gallagher to take 
editorial charge of it at a guaranteed salary. The offer 
was accepted gladly, and, turning over the care of the 
fast - expiring Backwoodsman to Francis, William took 
stage with his pretty wife and hastened to Cincinnati, and 
presently began his first important literary labor, the man- 
ao-ement of the Cincinnati Mirror. This was the fourth 
literary periodical published west of the Alleghany 
mountains. Its prototype, the New York Mirror, was a 
well established and influential journal. The new paper, 
a quarto, excellently printed on good paper, and of at- 
tractive appearance, was issued semi-monthly. The first 
two volumes were edited by Gallagher solely. At the be- 
ginning of the third year Gallagher formed a partnership 
with Thomas H. Shreve, and the two became proprietors 
of the publication. It was enlarged and issued weekly un- 
der the name Cincinnati Mirror and Western Gazette of Lit- 
erature. In April, 1835, the Chronicle.^ then owned by Rev. 
James H. Perkins, was merged in the Mirror, and Perkins 
shared the editorship of the periodical. The concern 
was sold October, 1835, to James B. Marshall, who united 
with it a publication called the Buckeye, and named it 
the Buckeye and Cincinnati Mirror. Within three months 
Marshall sold out to Flash and Ryder, book-sellers on 
Third Street, who engaged Gallagher and Shreve to 
resume control of the once more plain Cincinnati Mirror. 
All now went on smoothly until Gallagher offended Mr. 
Ryder by refusing to print matter endorsing Tom Paine's 
irreligious views. A quarrel followed, and both Gallagher 
and Shreve resigned. They were succeeded by J. Reese 
Fry, who, though he had fair editorial ability,could not 



Ohio Archceo Logical and Histoncal Quarterly. 

prevent the Mirror from sinking to final extinction within 
two months'. 

The Mirror never paid its way, though it had an ex- 
tensive circulation in the Mississippi valley. Its contents 
embraced original and selected tales, essays, poetry, bio- 
graphical and historical sketches, reviews of and extracts 
from new books, and a compendium of the news of the 
day. Nearly all the leading western writers contributed to 
it. Among these were Timothy Flint, J. A. McClung, John 
B. Dillon, Harvy D. Little, Morgan Neville, Benjamin 
Drake, Mrs. Julia Dumont and Mrs. Lee Hentz. From 
the east, Mr. Whittier contributed at least one poem — 
" Lines on a Portrait." 

When, in 1832, Mr. Gallagher held this literary " Mirror " 
up to nature and art on the banks of the Ohio, Bryant was 
but thirty -eight years old, Longfellow and Whittier but 
twenty-five, Poe twenty-one, and Howells lacked five years 
of being born. The backwoods editor's comments on co- 
temporary literature read curiously in the light of present 
reputations. Encouraging mention is made of a fifty-dollar 
prize story, "A New England Sketch, by Miss Beecher, of 
this city." The reviewer says the story "is written with 
great sprightliness, humor and pathos," and that " none 
but an intelligent and observant lady could possibly have 
written it." In a notice of " Mogg Megone," Whittier is 
discriminatingly heralded as a " man whom his countrymen 
will yet delight to honor. Some of his early writings are 
among the happiest juvenile productions with which we 
are acquainted." The complacent editor mentions "Outre 
Mer" favorably, saying that it was written by Professor 
Longfellow, " who is very well known to American read- 
ers," and that " it is for sale at Josiah Drake's bookstore 
on Main street." 

Mr. Gallagher wrote much for the Mirror in prose 
and verse, and his editorials, sketches and poems were 
widely copied. One of his pieces, a carefully finished 
short essay, entitled "The Unbeliever," was credited to 



William Davis Gallagher. 

Dr. Chalmers, and appeared in a school reader with that 
classic divine's name attached. 

While editor of the Mirror, Gallagher made his debut 
as a speaker, by delivering before the " Lyceum," an 
"Eulogium on the Life and Character of William Wirt." 
The old Enon Church, where the " Lyceum " met, was 
crowded, and the orator, when he rose to speak, was so 
frightened that he could not at first open his mouth, but 
the reassuring smile of the president. Doctor Daniel Drake, 
restored his self-command, and the address was pronounced 
satisfactorily. 

The " Lyceum " was a society for popular edification, 
conducted under the auspices of the Ohio Mechanics' 
Institute. Before it, Calvin E. Stowe delivered a course of 
lectures on the " History of Letters," and Judge James 
Hall read an address on the " Importance of Establishing 
a First-Class Library in Cincinnati." 

The old Enon Church, on Walnut street, was also the 
meeting place of a club called the " Franklin Society," the 
members of which, we are told, "met week after week, 
with much benefit to all concerned." " Many a cold and 
cheerless evening," wrote the editor of the Western Quar- 
terly^ " have v/e seen half a dozen enthusiastic youths gath- 
ered about and shivering over the stove in the corner of' 
the large apartment, while the President, wrapped in dig- 
nity and a large cloak, sat chattering his teeth, apart from 
the group, and member after member stepped aside and 
made speeches, many of which were distinguished by 
brilliancy and true eloquence." 

A more popular debating society was the " Inquisition," 
mentioned in Channing's " Memoir of James H. Perkins." 
The " Inquisition " was attended by the beauty and fashion 
of Cincinnati. Mr. Gallagher shone with the young gentry 
who read polite essays at Dr. Drake's parlors, and shivered 
with the talented plebeians of the Franklin society. He 
was also the very soul of a unique private junto numbering 
but eight members, and named the Tags, or the T. A. G, 



Ohio Archoeological and Historical Quarterly. 

S., these cabalistic letters being the initials of the four who 
originated the conclave, namely, Frederic William Thomas, 
Samuel York Atlee, William Davis Gallagher and Thomas 
Henry Shreve. 

Still another very interesting club may be referred to 
here, though it arose somewhat later than those mentioned. 
It was called the " Forty-Twos," from the circumstance 
that, at its founding, all of its members were over forty- 
one years of age and under forty-three. The " Forty- 
Twos"met in the law office of Salmon P. Chase, on Third 
street, (the office in which Don Piatt says the Republican 
party was born.) Among its members, besides Chase and 
Gallagher, were Samuel Eels, Jordan A. Pugh, and Charles 
L. Telford. The club was larcrer than that of the " Tao-s," 
and had more of a social nature, but it did a great deal in 
the way of developing a literary taste in Cincinnati. 

It was before the appearance of the Mirror that W. D. 
Gallagher won his first laurels for poetical achievement. 
Some verses of his called " The Wreck of the Hornet," pub- 
lished anonymously, went the rounds of the American 
press, and were ascribed to the pen of Bryant. The suc- 
cess of this fugitive piece gave its author confidence to 
produce others, and he was soon recognized as the leading 
imaginative writer of the West. 

In the spring of 1835 he published a little book of thirty- 
six pages, entitled " Erato No. I.," dedicated to Timothy 
Flint. The naming of his collection after a lyric muse 
was suggested, probably, by the example of Percival, who 
a dozen years before, had put forth " Clio No. I. " and " Clio 
No. II." Gallagher's maiden venture was received with 
favor; and, in August, 1835, "Erato No. II." was issued, 
and this was followed, two years later, by " Erato No. III." 
A long and laudatory review of these three booklets ap- 
peared in the Southern Literary Messenger for July, 
1838. The reviewer says: " It is to be regretted that, in 
justice to the poet, these volumes were not published in 
one of the Atlantic cities, inasmuch as it would have 



William Davis Gallagher. 

extended the reputation of the author, and given currency 
to his works, which a Western press can not secure to 
them. The Atlantic side of the Allegbanies is sufficiently 
controlled by that kind of prejudice in relation to ultra- 
montane literature, that led one, some two thousand years 
ago, to say, 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' 
These prejudices should not be neglected or despised by 
Western writers. The names of Messrs. Harper & Broth- 
ers, or Carey, Lea & Blanchard, on the title page of 
many a book has often proved a better endorsement to the 
public than the author's. How natural it is to condemn 
a book unread that has the imprint of a country town. 
There is the same kind of faith extended to an unknown 
book as to an unknown bank note ; if it bears city names, 
and is of a city bank, it is received with confidence, and if 
it is a country bill it is taken with hesitation and suspi- 
cion." The alleged Eastern prejudice to Western literary 
outputs was met by Gallagher with obstinate provincial 
pride and defiance. To him the building up of Western 
literature was a duty which he exalted to the rank of 
patriotism and religion. He advocated the fostering of 
home genius with a fervor like that which protectionists 
manifested in discussing domestic industries. Instead of 
seeking Eastern publishers, Gallagher did not even com- 
ply with their voluntary requests to handle his books, 
though this was owing, in part, to his careless disposition. 
Under date of March, 1881, he wrote to a friend: " I have 
been solicited repeatedly by Eastern publishers; never 
but twice, that I remember, by Western publishers." In 
the same letter, alluding to the volumes he wrote, and 
magazines he edited, he says: "I do not possess a copy 
of any one of them." 

Returning to the ambitious and sentimental period of 
Gallagher's career, we find that he was admired for his 
handsome looks. One of his cotemporaries wrote : " He 
has a manly fif;ure, tall and well proportioned, with a 
lofty and somewhat haughty carriage. His complexion is 



Ohio Archcsological and Historical Quarterly, 

very fair and ruddy ; his face exhibits a remarkably youth- 
ful appearance, as if but nineteen and not twenty-eight 
years had passed over his head. In conversation, he is 
animated and energetic, evincing the man of quick sensi- 
bility, the bold thinker, the acute critic and severe satirist. 
His eyes are lively and of a piercing blue. His forehead 
is fair and open, denoting intellectual strength, with soft- 
ened outlines, and is the index of the graceful character of 
his mind." The allusion in this description to Gallagher's 
"haughty carriage," recalls the fact that the boys in the 
printing office used to call himWilliam"Dignity"Gallagher. 
Neither his handsome person, nor his versatile talents 
brought much hard cash. Deprived of the salary which 
he had received as editor of the meager Mirror^ the 
poet found himself in the unpoetical condition of a man 
with a wife to support on no income whatever. He wrote 
to Otway Curry : "I must do something to raise a little 
money, for I am almost too badly clad to appear in the 
street." Grasping at an invisible straw, he issued a pro- 
spectus for a weekly paper. The Cincimiati Spectator and 
Family News-Letter, but the name was all of the paper 
that ever appeared. However, in June, 1836, Messrs. 
Smith and Day projected a Western Literary Journal attd 
Monthly Review^ and Gallagher was called to edit it. 
Mark the western tone and confident air of this passage 
from the opening number: "Let us, who are in the 
enjoyment of a triune youthfulness, being young as a 
people, young in years, and young as a literary commu- 
nity, endeavor to approach the Fathers of English Poetry. 
Let us discard the affectation of parlor prettiness, wax- 
work niceties and milliner-like conceits. Let us turn our 
lady-pegasus out to pasture, and mount coursers of speed 
and mettle. Let us give over our pacing and ambling, 
and dash oflf with a free rein." To these imperative appeals 
the readers of the Journal were probably insensible; at 
any rate they did not pay liberally for such exhortation, 
and the starving editor's starving periodical gave up the 



William Davis Gallagher, 

ghost, aged one year. The lively ghost flew to Louisville 
and was there re-embodied, being merged in the Western. 
Monthly Magazifie^ which Judge Hall sold to James B. 
Marshall in 1836. The combined publication forming the 
Western MontJdy Magazine and Literary Journal was to be 
issued simultaneously from Cincinnati and Louisville. 
Gallagher was employed to edit it, and he entered upon 
this new labor with unflagging zeal. The Western Acade- 
mician^ (think of a Western Academician in 1837,) says of 
this new venture: "It is replete with good articles." 
Notwithstanding its exuberance of merit, the journal 
expired with the issue of the fifth number, perhaps being 
too good to live, and William D. Gallagher was left once 
more a man without a periodical. But now a star of hope 
appeared in the north. John M. Gallagher, the poet's 
youngest brother, had become manager of the Ohio State 
Journal^ at Columbus, Ohio, and he invited William to 
assist him. Such an opportunity was not to be slighted, 
and we may imagine the strong Whig, who had begun his 
journalistic labors as editor of the Clay newspaper at 
Xenia, now using the langmage of Leigh Hunt; 

•• I yield, I yield. — Once more I turn to you, 
Harsh politics! and once more bid adieu 
To the soft dreaming of the Muses' bowers." 

Gallagher removed with his family to Columbus, and 
entered upon editorial duties, also writing political letters 
from the Capital for the Cincinnati Gazette under the 
signature of "Probus." But his connection with the 
State Joiirnal was of short duration. Standing by his 
convictions with his usual stubbornness he opposed, edi- 
torially, the publication of the laws in the German lan- 
guage and the teaching of any foreign language in the 
public schools. Finding that his views were unpopular 
and injurious to the business interests of the paper, he 
chose to resign rather than suppress his honest opinions. 

Before withdrawing from the Journal he projected 
what proved to be his most important enterprise in litera- 



Ohic Archceological and Historical Quarterly. 

ture, a magazine named " The Hesperian?'' This was a 
monthly miscellany of general literature. The first num- 
ber came out in May, 1838. Otway Curry assisted in edit- 
ing the first volume. Two volumes were published at 
Columbus, — the third and last at Cincinnati. The senior 
editor, in his opening " Budget," confesses that his past 
ten years' exertions in behalf of literature "have been 
fruitless to himself of everything but experience," yet he 
finds courage to make one more attempt, "because he 
loves the pursuit, — because he thinks he can be useful in 
it, — because he is convinced there is, throughout the whole 
West, a great demand and a growing necessity for labor in 
it, — and because he believes that under present auspices 
it can be made to yield at least a quid pro quo^ 

The Hesperian was jealously Western, as its name 
sufficiently suggests, but it was by no means narrow, shal- 
low, or provincial. Its watchwords were Freedom, Edu- 
cation, Manhood, Fair Play. The contents were wide- 
ranging— geographical, historical, biographical, political, 
poetical, agricultural, theological, romantic and fictitious. 
Among its contributors, were the Drakes, Shreve, Perkins, 
Neville, Prentice, W.G. Simms, S. P. Hildreth, C. P.Cranch, 
I. A. Jewett, A. Kinmont, R. Dale Owen, Jas. W. Ward, Mrs. 
Sigourney, Mrs. Lee Hentz, Amelia B. Welby, and many 
others worthy to hold a permanent place in literature. 
Gallagher himself wrote copiously and very ably for the 
Hesperian. In its pages appeared his most ambitious 
story, "The Dutchman's Daughter," which, though crude 
and ill-sustained as a whole, has descriptive passages that 
would grace the pen of Irving. 

The Hesperian was transferred from Columbus to 
Cincinnati in April, 1839. "^^^ editor procured a room 
in the third story of a brick house on Third street, east of 
Main — a room ten by twelve, with a door and a single 
window. "And in this small place," writes he gaily to 
bis wife, "Emma dear," on May Day, "the renowned edi- 
tor of the Hesperian is to read, write, eat, drink, go to 



William Davis Gallagher. 

bed, get up, and entertain his friends." To Curry he wrote, 
lugubriously quoting Mother Goose, " I have so many 
children I don't know what to do." Again to Mrs. Galla- 
gher on May 15, "1 enclose you three dollars, all the 
money I have, and I hope it will last you till I can get 
and furnish you some more." This period was the pro- 
verbial darkest hour just before daybreak. The " Probus" 
letters had made a favorable impression on Charles Ham- 
mond, the chief editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, and 
induced him to offer Gallagher an important position as 
his assistant. Hammond was at that time the most influ- 
ential journalist in the country. He was an intimate 
adviser of Clay, and had been called, by Webster, the 
"greatest genius that ever wielded the political pen." 
Thomas Ewing had said of Hammond that he used a lan- 
guage as pure as that of Addison, It was no light honor 
to be called and chosen by so eminent a man. With the 
honor came also a liberal salary. "Emma" and the "so 
many children" were now well provided for. The //<?5- 
pehan was discontinued and the duties of the new career 
were begun in the latter part of 1839, to be continued, with 
little interruption, for ten years. Mr. Gallagher at first 
attended mainly to the literary department of the paper, 
but after the death of Mr. Hammond in 1840, he did much 
political writing. He became more and more interested 
in State and national questions, and took an active part 
in party management. For many years he was Secretary 
of the Whig Committee for the First Congressional Dis- 
trict of Ohio. In 1842 he was nominated candidate for 
the State legislature, but declined to run. 

The love of literature continued to hold sway over him. 
In 1840 he planned a literary undertaking of praiseworthy 
character and generous scope, as may be gathered from 
the following letter to Otway Curry : 
\To Otivay Curry, Esq., Mary sville. Union County, Ohio.~\ 

Cincinnati, Nov. 7, 1840. 

My Dear Curry — I thank you for your original contribu- 



Ohio ArchcBological and Historical Quarterly. 

tion to the Poetical Volume, and shall insert it as the second 
selection from you, "The Goings Forth of God" being 
the first. It was not my original design to have admitted 
anything not before published, but Jones thought he could 
do better than he had yet done, and Shreve ditto ; and, 
while I held their requests for the privilege of inserting 
an original, under advisement, along came your vobintary. 
This, as there was no impropriety in deviating from the 
first plan thus made, decided me. Perkins, I think, will 
have an original likewise ; and, in the forewritten verses,' 
you have one of my own. I do not wish it known, how- 
ever, that the volume contains anything specially pre- 
pared for it. 

I had not room in my last letter to detail to you the 
whole of my design. The volume of "Selections from 
the Poetical Literature of the West" is but the first 
feature of it. My intention is to follow this up in regular 
order by three other volumes, of " Selections from the 
Polite Literature of the West," " Selections from the Pulpit 
Literature of the West," and " Selections from the Polit- 
ical Literature of the West." Don't wipe those old specs 
of yours so hard, now. I've been looking over the level 
prairies of these intellectual regions, and I find in them 
materials enough for all I have contemplated. The truth 
is, Curry, this Transmontane world is a most glorious one, 
and I can't help trying to do something for its literary 
character, engage in whatsoever else I may, and starve, as 
I fear I must at this. I suppose these several volumes 
will come out at intervals of from five to six months, till 
the whole shall have been published. 

About your "Veiled Prophet," I feel some anxiety. 
Burton's new theater, I understand, has been open for a 
number of weeks, yet I hear nothing either of Jemmy 
Thorn or from him. The first one of our citizens whom I 
find starting for Philadelphia I shall get to call upon Bur- 
ton and make personal inquiry, &c., with reference to it. 

About that Congress of lunatics which you suggest: 
Perkins thinks well of it, Shreve thinks well of it, Curry 
thinks well of it and Gallagher thinks well of it ; and each 
of these distinguished men, doubtless, will willingly meet, 
lunatic ise and go home again. What further than this, 
while the matter is so entirely a new suggestion, can I 

* A poem entitled •♦ Little Children," enclosed in the letter to Curry. 



William Davis Gallagher, 

say? Give us your plan, and if it be as good and feasible 
as I presume it is, you will find us readily and actively 
seconding your motion. 

And now, my dear fellow, a word in your ear confiden- 
tially. I am very busy now-a-days, and should not there- 
fore have replied to your last so promptly but that I want 
very much to be "astonished jist." So crack your whip, 
and let us know what that " something" is, about which 
you prate so bigly. Thine as ever, 

W. D. GALI.AGHER. 

P. S. — Write me down, if you please, richer since day 
before yesterday, by another child, and poorer by what it 
will cost to keep it. This makes the fifth, all alive and 
kicking, and able to eat mush with the children of any 
Clodhopper in the land." 

That Gallagher's inclinations kept pulling him towards 
literature for some years after he became a political editor, 
is evident from a breezy letter written to Curry in August, 
1844: 

"Dear Curry — Upon accurate calculation, the time 
of the rising of the new literary comet of the West has 
been determined. You and other benighted people in 
your region may look for a luminous streak in the Heavens 
at 9 h. 10 m. II sec. October i, 1844. After this announce- 
ment, my dear fellow, can you remain idle ? I hope not, 
for the sake of the new experiment, the credit of your 
name, and the honor of your friend, who pledged to 
Messrs. Judson and Hine an article from your pen for the 
first number, and probably one for the second, and another 
for the third. The work is to be gotten out in the hand- 
somest style, and you will have the pleasure of appearing 
in good company. Lay aside your political pen, there- 
fore, shut up your law books, mount Pegasus, or some 
comely prose nag, and away to the free fields ! What do 
you say ? Shall I have something from you to hand over 
by the 6th to loth prox. ? Don't make it later, for the 
first copy is now in hand, and they want to be out early. 
Think of the olden time — your first love — wipe your 
specks — stick in a Havana — hum a madrigal — and dash 
into the thing pell-mell. Let me hear from you at once." 



The new " literary comet " thus announced was (pathetic 
repetition ! ) still another Literary Journal and Monthly 
Revieiv^ edited by L- A. Hine, and referred to by him some 
years later as "my first literary wreck." It was published 
at Nashville, Tennessee, and conducted nominally, by E. 
Z. C. Judson— "Ned Buntline." 

In those years of prosperity and constant pen-wielding^ 
Mr. Gallagher's muse was liberal. Then it was that the 
poet, caring more for the sentiment than the form of his 
utterance, dashed off the strong and fervent lyrics, by 
which he became really recognized as a man of original 
power. He sang the dignity of intrinsic manhood, the 
nobleness of honest labor, and the glory of human free- 
dom. Much that he wrote was extremely radical; his 
poetry was tinctured with the gospel of Christian social- 
ism, and the example he set was imitated by many other 
writers of verse. 

" Be thou like the first Apostles — 
Be thou like heroic Paul; 
If a free thought seek expression, 
Speak it boldly! — speak it all I 

"Face thine enemies — accusers; 
Scorn the prison, rack, or rod! 
And, if thou hast truth to utter. 
Speak! and leave the rest to Godl " 

Such lines as these, and as compose the poems "Truth 
and Freedom," "Conservatism," "The Laborer," "Radi- 
calos," "The Artisan," "The New Age," "All Things 
Free," went to the brain and heart of many people ; and 
it is not to be doubted that they exerted a deep and lasting 
influence. Of a more distinctly practical type were his 
melodious pieces describing the West and the life of the 
pioneer; and still more popular, in their day, were his 
songs, many of which were set to music and sung in thea- 



Ohio ArchcEological and Historical Quarterly. 

ters and at the fireside. In 1845 ^^^ written his famous 
ballad, "The Spotted Fawn," which everybody knew by 
heart. 

A man of Gallagher's principles could not be other 
than an opposer of slavery. When the office of the 
Philanthropist^ the anti-slavery paper established in Cin- 
cinnati, by James G. Birney, was mobbed, and the press 
thrown into the Ohio river, Gallagher was one of the 
citizens who, meeting with Hammond, Chase and others, 
at the Gazette office, arranged for a public meeting to be 
held at the Court-house, for the purpose of sustaining free 
speech. Years afterwards, in 1848 probably, Gallagher's 
feeling on the slavery question became so positive that he 
felt it a political duty to withdraw from the Gazette in 
order to edit the Daily Message. " The most I remember 
about this paper is," so he wrote in 1884, " that I gave its 
editorial columns altogether too anti-slavery (not abolition) 
a tinge to make it acceptable to business men in Cincin- 
nati, who had commenced transactions with business men 
South, and that soon after publishing the address of the 
first National Convention of the Anti-Slavery party of the 
United States, (which even the Cincinnati Gazette re- 
fused to publish), the paper was almost kicked out of the 
stores on the river tier of squares, and I made up my 
mind that I must leave the paper very soon or the time 
would not be long before it would leave me ( and my wife 
and babies) without anything to eat. So I left it and 
went back to the Gazette.'''' 

While connected with the Gazette^ Gallagher did much 
to encourage the literary effort in the Ohio Valley. It is 
interesting to learn that of the young writers whom he 
brought before the public, Murat Halstead is one. Mr. 
Halstead humorously says, " I was ruined by Mr. Galla- 
gher ; he accepted and published in the Gazette a story 
which I had written and carefully copied over three 
times." 

Gallagher was twice elected President of the " Histori- 



William Davis Gallagher. 

cal and Philosopliical Society of Ohio." The sixty-sec- 
ond anniversary of the settlement of Ohio was commem- 
orated by the society on April 8, 1850, when the president 
delivered a discourse full of information and vigorous 
thought, on the " Progress in the Northwest." This ad- 
dress was published by W. H. Derby, and copies of it are 
now much sought after. 

The year 1850 marks the beginning of a new line of 
experiences for Mr. Gallagher. His experiments in liter- 
ary journalism ended with the Hesperiaft. His ten years' 
editorial service on the Gazette came to a close, for rea- 
sons which we give in his own written words : 

" While I was connected with Judge Wright and L. C, 
Turner, in the editorship of the Cincinnati Daily Gazette. 
' Tom' Corwin was appointed to the head of the Treasury 
department at Washington, and immediately offered me 
the place of private secretary, which I was urged to ac- 
cept. This, I believe, was in the year 1850. I was what I 
considered in advance of both Wright and Turner, in re- 
lation to sundry questions of public and party nature, and 
on several occasions had felt it my duty to commit the 
paper, much to Wright's dissatisfaction. Finally a 
counting-room consultation was determined upon, and the 
L'Hommedieus were called into the editorial room. 
Stephen, the elder brother, sympathized with me from 
principle. Richard, the younger, agreed with Wright, as 
he said, from policy. ' What, Judge,' Stephen after a 
while inquired, ' is Gallagher's besetting sin in editorial 
matters?' ' Why,' promptly replied the Judge, without 
any exhibition of ill-nature, ' he is forever treading upon 
somebody's toes — and causing dissatisfaction, in the party 
as well as among business men.' Until this I had said 
nothing, but now I quickly responded, ' That, gentlemen, 
will never be a cause of complaint against Judge Wright 
— because he is forever behind the life and soul of his 
party, or at the best, stumbling against soinebody^s heels? 
There was an instantaneous pause, when Stephen left and 



Ohio Arch(sological and Historical Quarterly. 

beckoned me out of tlie room. I followed him, and much 
to his dissatisfaction, notified him that I should withdraw 
from the Gazette and accept Mr. Corwin's offer." 

Soon after going to Washington and entering upon the 
discharge of his duties in the Treasury department, the 
United States Senate called upon the Secretary for a re- 
port upon the merchant marine, internal and coastwise 
Reliable materials for such a report were not at hand, and 
Gallagher, having the reputation for ability to " hold his 
tongue," was directed to proceed to the various interior 
customs districts of the United States and collect infor- 
mation in regard to the revenue, and Edward D. Mansfield 
was appointed to proceed upon similar business to the dis- 
tricts upon the Atlantic seacoast. All the materials in, 
Gallagher drew up the report, which was much com- 
mended in the department. 

This over, he was immediately dispatched to the city 
of New York for a million of dollars in gold, out of the 
sub-treasury, with which he was instructed to proceed to 
New Orleans, by sea, and to deposit with the United States 
treasury in that city. This was to be a secret removal of 
gold, required in the settlement of Mexican claims. The 
specie was quietly conveyed to the steamship Georgia, of 
the Rowland and Aspinwall line, and placed in a chest un- 
der the floor of the ladies' cabin before any passengers 
were received on board. Besides Mr. Gallagher, the cap- 
tain and the purser were the only souls on the ship who 
were aware that it bore golden freight. The voyage was 
in mid-winter ; the weather proved stormy. 

Key West was reached without accident, but within an 
hour after the voyage was resumed from that point the 
ship struck a rock. By skillful piloting, the rock was 
cleared ; and, after a much longer than average trip. New 
Orleans was finally reached on a Sunday morning. As 
soon as the passengers were ashore, the gold was loaded 
in a wagon, and hauled to the office of the Assistant 
United States Treasurer, where Gallagher had it secuielv 



William Davis Gallagher. 

placed under lock. With the key in his pocket, he went 
to the St. Charles Hotel and got breakfast. That over, he 
proceeded to the telegraph office, and sent the follow- 
ing dispatch : " Hon. Thomas Corwin, Secretary of the 
Treasury, Washington. All Right. W. D. Gallagher, 
New Orleans." Returning to Washington, Gallagher 
resumed his labors as private secretary. One day he 
found among the papers which it was his duty to examine 
a letter signed by some of his old Cincinnati friends, sug- 
gesting that an extra compensation of not less than 
$i,ooo should be given him as an appropriate acknowl- 
edgement of his general services to the Whig party and 
to the government. He showed the letter to another 
officer of the department, who was pleased with it, saying : 
" There is precedent enough for such extra compensation 
for similar services, and it is all right — but do you think 
the Secretary will consent to it." "I don't think he will 
ever have an opportunity to consent to it," Gallagher 
replied, and threw the letter into the grate and burned it 
up. " You ought not to have done that, Gallagher," 
remarked Mr. H— , " but—" " Perhaps not; but no per- 
sonal friends of mine shall ever be tempted by other 
personal friends to do anything for me like that pro- 
posed." Within an hour Mr. Corwin came back to the 
department from a visit to the President. Mr. H — , good- 
naturedly, mentioned the matter to him, whereupon he 
sent, by messenger, a request that Gallagher would step 
into his room. When the latter presented himself, Cor- 
win, with a very solemn expression upon his face, said, 
not angrily, but with sternness in his tone, " Gallagher, 
are you in the habit, as my private secretary, of destroy- 
ing such of my private letters as you happen not to 
like?" "Governor, you have no idea that I could do 
anything of the sort. I destroyed one such letter a while 
ago, which concerned me more than it did you, and which, 
though meant as an act of friendship, ought not to have 
been written without my knowledge and consent But I 



Ohio Arches ological and Historical Quarterly. 

suppose you know all about it." The expression on Cor- 
win's face at once relaxed, as he continued, " I wonder 

if and really supposed I would use the public 

money in that way. If they did, they were most damna- 
bly mistaken." 

In the summer of 1852, Gallagher had an opportunity 
of going into the New York Tribune with Horace Greeley ; 
and another of taking a one-half interest in the Cincinnati 
Commercial^ then controlled by his friend M. D. Potter. 
He was advised and urged by such old anti-slavery friends 
as Gamaliel Bailey, Thomas H. Shreve, Noble Butler, and 
others, in Washington, Cincinnati, and Louisville to pur- 
chase half the stock of the Louisville Daily Courier^ and 
to assume the editorship of that paper, which was to be a 
Southern organ for the advocacy of Corwin's nomination 
to the presidency. After long consideration, a decision 
was reached in favor of the Co2irier^ and Gallagher re- 
turned to the West with his family, arriving at Louisville 
the first day of January, 1853. Nearly thirty years after- 
wards he wrote, " My connection with the Courier proved 
to be an unfortunate one. There was little sym^pathy with 
my editorial tone and teachings, either in Louisville or 
throughout Kentucky. I worked hard, and lost money. 
So in 1854 I sold my interest in the concern, and withdrew 
from the paper — having been stigmatized again and again, 
in Southern and Southwestern localities, as an abolition 
adventurer on the wrong side of the Ohio river, as former 
president of the underground railroad through Ohio for 
runaway slaves, etc., etc." Personal animosity was in- 
flamed against the unpopular editor from his boldly at- 
tacking John J. Crittenden for consenting to defend Matt. 
Ward, who killed the young teacher, Butler, in his own 
school-room. Young Butler was a brother of Noble Butler, 
one of Gallagher's dearest friends. 

Even George D. Prentice {et tu Brute!) joined in the hue 
and cry against the Courier editor, partly because Galla- 
gher was an Irish anti-know-nothing, but mainly on the 



William Davis Gallas'hcr. 



^> 



sore question of slavery. Prentice came up to Cincinnati 
and spent several days looking through the files of the 
Gazette to find in Gallagher's editorials abolition senti- 
ments that might be used against him in Louisville. An 
article appeared in the Joiivfial branding Gallagher with 
the crime of managing the underground railroad. This 
direct and personal attack roused the Celtic resentment of 
its subject, and he replied in the editorial columns of the 
Courier^ over his signature, denying the allegation, and 
closed his card by denouncing the author of the calumny 
as " a scoundrel and liar." He had caught the spirit of 
personal journalism. The consequences were, if not 
dramatic, at least theatrical. 

Upon a day the Louisville train brings to Pewee Valley, 
in Oldham county, where Mr. Gallagher had bought a 
little farm, a military gentleman of chivalrous appearance, 
who inquires the way from the station to Fern Rock Cot- 
tage. Finding the house, he knocks, and is admitted to 
the parlor by a colored servant. The master of the house 
is indisposed, is resting upon his bed, but clothed and in 
his right mind, and able to receive his visitor. The 
military gentleman will wait. To him presently enters 
William " Dignity " Gallagher, who, recognizing Colonel 
Churchill, cordially greets him, and asks his pleasure. 
The Colonel, with equal politeness, takes from his pocket 
a letter, which he hands to the convalescent editor. The 
missive is opened, and it proves to be a challenge from 
the proprietor of the Louisville Journal. Gallagher reads, 
tears the communication into a handful of bits, and 
throws the fragments on the floor. " Colonel Churchill, 
tell Mr. Prentice tJiat is my answer to his foolish chal- 
lenge." 

Free once more, and now finally, from political journal- 
ism, Gallagher began to plant orchards, earning bread and 
butter for the time by editing an agricultural paper, the 
Westerti Farmer^ s Journal^ and by writing for the Colum- 
bian and Great West, a Cincinnati paper, published by his 



Ohio ArchcBological and Historical Quarterly. 

* 

friend W. B. Shattuc. He also contributed poems to the 
National £ra, edited by Dr. Bailey. With wonderful 
energy, he set about organizing industrial and educational 
institutions. He established a Kentucky Mechanics' 
Institute, a Kentucky State Agricultural Society, and was 
instrumental in forming the Southwestern Agricultural 
Society, of which he was made Secretary. In the way of 
useful literature, he wrote a prize essay on " Fruit Culture 
in the Ohio Valley ;" and prepared materials for a social 
and statistical view of the Mississippi Valley. 

Pewee Valley (at first named Pewee's Nest by Noble 
Butler, from the circumstance that when locating a build- 
ins: site there he wrote letters in a ruined cabin in which 
the pewees had built) is a beautiful village, on the Louis- 
ville & Nashville Railroad, about sixteen miles east of 
Louisville. It became a chosen resort of people of culture 
and taste. There lived Edwin Bryant, who had been 
the Alcalde of San Francisco in the gold-seeking days; 
Noble Butler, the educator, resided there ; the wealthy 
and accomplished Warfield family made their refined and 
hospitable home at Pewee Valley. Mr. Gallagher's house, 
a rambling frame cottage, covered with American ivy, 
was built in the midst of great forest trees — beech, oak, 
maple, poplar, and a newer growth of sassafras, dogwood, 
black-haw, and evergreens. Gray squirrels barked and 
skipped about the door-yard, and the cat bird, the red 
bird and the unceremonious blue jay came near the 
porches for their daily bread. 

Mr. Gallagher greatly enjoyed the picturesque surround- 
ings, and the congenial society of Pewee Valley. Being 
of a generous and friendly disposition he was liked by all 
who knew him. Western literary people were especially 
attached to him. His correspondence with that class was 
extensive. The following letter may stand as a fair rep- 
resentative of the many that were sent him. It was writ- 
ten from New York, nearly thirty years ago, by one, who, 



Willia7n Davis Gallagher. 

at that time, was regarded as the coming man in literature, 
Mr. William Ross Wallace. 

[ William Ross Wallace to W. D. Gallagher^ 

"N. Y., August 17, i860. 

"My Dear Old Friend: — Your most kind and welcome 
letter came to hand several days since ; and I have delayed 
an answer until I could read your lady friend's novel. This 
I have done with very great interest, as it is brimful of 
genius and a most peculiar, startlingly original power. 
Mrs. Warfield is certainly endowed with great talent and 
moral force. Her style is rich, yet chaste — full of a mature 
and lasting splendor. I should think that this Romance 
will place her, at a bound, at the head of our female 
authors — while she will compare favorably with the mas- 
culine. Of course, I will do all in my power in the way 
of newspaper notices ; although the work needs no bolster- 
ing. I am very glad, my dear friend, that you like my 
poems — as it is pleasant to be admired by those whom 
we admire. 

" Do send me a copy of your wood-thrush-note when it 
rings, at last, through the grand old woods. I hope to 
publish soon a long national poem, entitled " Chants in 
America" — devoted to our glorious scenery and deeds. 
I take a motto from yourself for the first part. Do you 
ever see Noble Butler? and Mr. Bryant? Mr. Fosdick 
told me that you were all neighbors. I have dear mem- 
ories of both B's. 

" I shall publish a notice of Mrs. W.'s great novel in a 
few days, and send you a copy of the paper containing it. 

" Please let me know when you receive this, and believe 
me to be yours affectionately, 

"William Ross Wallace. 

"Wm. D. Gallagher, Esq." 

The novel here referred to was " The Household of 
Bouverie," published in i860 by J. C. Derby, and by him 
described as a "wonderful romance."' 

Busied with the labors of peace, Gallagher little antici- 
pated how soon he was to assume important duties of war 

1 Fifty Years Among Authors, Books and Publishers. J. C. Derby, 1884. 

5 



Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly. 

not in the capacity of a military man, but as a civil officer 
of the government, which he had served so faithfully 
before. A new President of the United States was to be 
chosen. He attended several political conventions — one 
State convention — was a delegate from Kentucky to the 
National convention at Chicago, in i860, and was made 
somewhat conspicuous there by a response which he gave 
in reply to an address of welcome. Though his personal 
preference was for Mr. Chase, he went with the current 
for "Old Abe," working hard and voting for his nomina- 
tion, against that of William H. Seward ; and was one of 
those who carried the news to Springfield. In these and 
other public ways, he rendered himself so objectionable to 
the great mass of the people in his neighborhood, who 
were opposed to the election of Mr. Lincoln, that a public 
meeting was called and held within a mile of his house, 
for the purpose of giving him notice to leave the State. 
The situation was now dramatic in earnest, and might 
have become tragic, had it not been for the personal 
friendship of some of his political opposers. On the day 
of the threatened violence, Mr. Gallagher had intended to 
go from his home to Cincinnati. At Pewee Station, his 
friend, Mr. Haldeman, called out: "Gallagher, have you 
seen Dr. Bell?" "No." "He says they are going to mob 
you ; there is a crowd at Beard's Station, and they swear 
you must leave the State." Dr. Bell came up and advised 
Gallagher to go on to Cincinnati. "No, gentlemen; if 
violence is meditated, my family are the first considera- 
tion, and home is the place for me. Mr. Crow" — this to 
the station keeper — "let it be known that I am at home." 
Haldeman forced into Gallagher's hand a navy revolver, 
though the poet had never fired a pistol in his life ; another 
political enemy, but personal friend, gave him a big bowie- 
knife, and thus grimly over-armed he returned to Fern 
Rock, to the amazement of his wife and daughters. 

The meeting at Beard's Station was a dangerous one, 
but Gallagher's rebel neighbors, with warm respect for the 



Wiliiam Davis Gallagher. 

man and cliivalrous regard for fair play demanded a hear- 
ing A stalwart young mechanic took npon himself to 
champion the cause of free opinion. "I hate GaUaghe.^s 
politics as much as any ot you," sa.d this g^"-"'^?^- 
Tnckian to the crowd, "but he has as good a "gh to h s 
ideas as we have to ours,, and "-with a string of terrible 
oaths -"whoever tries to lay a hand on him, or to give 

him an order to leave the State, -^^^^ ^^J^^^' ^^^s 
dead body " The notice was not served; but after hours 
of talk, the assemblage contented itself with providing 
for the appointment of a " vigilance committee" for the 
neighborhood and dispersed. The excitement died away 
and the Gallagher family lived in comparative safety ; the 
stars and stripes floated above the roof of Fern Rock Cot- 
ta<^e during the six gloomy years of the war. 

When Mr. Chase was made Secretary of the Treasury, 
Gallagher was invited to accept the same position under 
hhn that he had held under Mr. Corwin. As the war went 
on, it became necessary for the government to;P.P°'"'^ 
sp cial Collector of Customs for the ports of delivery in 
the interior, on the Mississippi river and elsewhere^ Mr 
Lincoln selected Gallagher for this important office. He 
™s also made special commercial agent for the upper 
Mississippi Valley. By his vigilance, provisions and 
Stores, to the value of millions, intended for the aid and 
comfort of the confederates, were intercepted and saved 

to the Union. , ,, rn 

In the summer of 1863, he was appointed to the office 
of Surveyor of Customs in Louisville, and at the close of 
the war he was made Pension Agent. His public duties 
were all discharged punctually and with the strictest integ- 
rity He made no money out of his country's misfortunes. 
In the midst of official labor he found time and mspi- 
ration for the occasional use of his good goose-qui 1, (for he 
never uses a steel pen,) and he produced -veral stoing 
ooems that did better work than many bullets. Ch et ot 
ftese were the patriotic ballad "Grandpa Nathan," and 



Ohio ArchcBoLogicaL and Historical Quarterly, 

the timely lyrics " Move on the Columns " and " The Pres- 
ident's Gun," the last a poem on the emancipation proc- 
lamation. 

The echoes of battle died away and Mr. Gallagher 
returned to his quiet farm, planted flowers, made rockeries, 
and planned new buildings. He resumed the useful pen, 
writing masterly communications for the " Louisville and 
Ohio Valley Manufacturer and Merchant." One of his 
articles is on " Cotton and Tobacco," another on " Our 
Commercial Exchanges." Perhaps his ablest statistical 
discourse is one published in pamphlet form in 1879, en- 
titled " The Area of Subsistence, and its Natural Outlet 
to the Ocean and the World," a discussion of the resources 
of the great Southwest, and a counterpart to his address 
of 1850 on the Northwest. 

In the reaction that followed the seeming prosperity 
stimulated by the war, Mr. Gallagher suffered financially, 
as did thousands of others. His property at Pewee Val- 
ley depreciated and he also lost money by unfortunate 
investments. Driven by necessity he earned his living by 
spending patient hours at the clerical desk as salaried 
secretary of the " Kentucky Land Company." In 1881, 
he was working, as he expressed it, " like a beaver," a 
statement that recalls his brother's complaint more than 
sixty years before, that Billy was toiling " like a nigger." 

If ever a citizen was entitled to government appoint- 
ment on the score of faithful public service, Gallagher 
was. Several of his political friends presented his claims 
to the President and the Secretary of the Interior, in 187 1. 
His endorsers in Kentucky were such men as B. H. Bris- 
tow, G. C. Wharton and John M. Harlan. Hon. Charles 
P. James wrote to President Hayes from Washington, " I 
am able to say that his reputation, whether as an officer 
or business man, has been absolutely without imputation 
of wrong or neglect. He has always been known as a 
remarkably hard worker, and as a man of great moral 
courage." A letter written by General R. C. Schenck said 



William. Davis Gallagher, 

of Gallagher, " He can bring to the public service, high 
character, undoubted integrity, and great literary ability." 
On the back of this is written, with bold emphasis, " I 
concur in the foregoing recommendation. J. A. Garfield." 
It was Guiteau's bullet that prevented Gallagher from re- 
ceiving an appointment from the man of Mentor. 

It is painful to record that, in 1882, lured by promises 
and prodded by need, the proud poet went to Washington 
in the forlorn hope of employment by the government. 
On August 21, his seventy-fourth birthday, he wrote from 
Washington to his children at Louisville, the following 
brave verses, which, whatever be their literary short-com- 
ings, have a merit of courage, patience, and resignation 
that is deeply touching. The lack of poetry in the lines 
is more than made up by the unconscious pathos : 

•' So you! so each and all who bear 
My name! — so all my blood who share! 
Come good, come ill — come weal, come woe- 
No murmurs breathe, no faintings knowl 
If dark the day, or if you bask 
In sunshine, still pursue your task. 
If hard the labor, more the need 
Of perseverance, trial, heed. 
And if, when sets the cheerful sun 
Your task shall not be wholly done, 
Your hopes fulfilled, your wants supplied, 
Your aspirations satisfied. 
Feel not discomfited, depressed, 
But calmly seek your needed rest, 
And brace you for the further fray, 
As soon as opes the coming day — 
Remembering still, day out and in, 
They win who work, they work who win." 

Mrs. Emma Adamson Gallagher, the poet's wife, died at 
Pewee Valley, December 26, 1867, of heart disease. Sud- 
denly stricken, she fell to the floor, and soon afterwards 
expired. She bore to her husband nine children, of whom 
one son, Edward, and three daughters, Jane, Emma and 
Fanny, are living. 



Ohio Arches ologkal and Historical Quarterly. 

Incidental mention is made, in the foregoing narrative, 
of Mr. Gallagher's ringing lyrics of reform, and his songs 
celebrating the days of the pioneer. These made their 
author famous half a century ago, and were praised in the 
magazines of Percival, Sprague, Brainard, and James F. 
Clarke. Fine and forcible as these eloquent and melo- 
dious pieces are, they are surpassed in poetical merit by 
the author's delicate lyrics descriptive of nature, such as 
his poems on " May " and on "August," and his lines to 
"The Cardinal Bird." These have been reprinted so 
often that they are accessible to any reader who has access 
to a general library. But there is a little poem, written by 
Mr. Gallagher in 1852, which has never appeared in any 
volume, and which has qualities of such exquisite sweet- 
ness and tenderness, and open-hearted spontaneity, that I 
quote it here : 

THE BROWN THRUSH. 

Brown-mantled bird that in the dim old forest 

Which stands far-spreading in my own loved West, 
At dewy eve and purple morn outpourest 

The sweet, wild melodies that thrill thy breast, — 
How like to thine were my young heart's libations, 

Poured daily to the giver of all good! 
How like our love and simple ministrations 

At God's green altars in the deep and hallowed wood 

We trilled our morn and evening songs together, 

And twittered 'neath green leaves at sultry noon; 
We kept like silence in ungenial weather, 

And never knew blue skies come back too soon. 
We sang not for the world; we sang not even 

For those we loved; we could not help but sing,.— 
There was such beauty in the earth and heaven, 

Such music in our hearts, such joy in everythingl 

Wild warbler of the woods! I hear thee only 

At intervals of weary seasons now; 
Yet while through dusty streets I hasten, lonely 

And sad at heart, with cares upon my brow. 
There comes from the green aisle of the old forest 

A gushing melody of other days — 
And I again am with thee, where thou pourest 

In gladness unto God the measure of thy praise. 



William Davis Gallagher. 

The brief preface to Mr. Gallagher's " Miami Woods 
and Other Poems," published in Cincinnati in 1881, tells 
us that nearly the entire contents of the volume, except- 
ing the miscellaneous poems, "appear in print now for 
the first time, though written at various periods between 
twenty-five and forty-two years ago." A subsequent vol- 
ume, in which will be embraced " The Ancient People," 
" Ballads of the Border," " Civile Bellum," was promised, 
but it will probably never appear, for the first volume was 
not a financial success. The book, a handsome octavo of 
264 pages, has its contents divided into five sections : 
I, Miami Woods; II, A Golden Wedding ; III, In Exaltis ; 
IV, Life Pictures; V, Miscellaneous. 

"Miami Woods" is a long poem, divided into seven 
parts, corresponding to seven periods in which it was 
composed. The first part was written in 1839, the seventh 
in 1856. The poem is essentially descriptive, tliough it 
abounds in meditations and reflections on vaiious sub- 
jects — political, social, moral, religious and philosophical. 
This didactic quality reminds the reader of WoiJsworth's 
" Excursion." 

Bryant has described many features of the American 
landscape with charming fidelity, yet with something of 
photographic coldness. Gallagher's verse paints the 
forest and field with Nature's own color, and glows with 
the warmth of human love and joy. " Miami Woods" 
is a sort of Thompson's " Seasons," adapted to the Ohio 
Valley. J. J. Piatt, in his poems, gives many touches of 
inimitable natural description, and his " Penciled Fly 
Leaves" is a gallery of delicate etchings of Western 
scenery. Mr. Gallagher has painted a true and quite 
complete panorama of the changing year in Western 
woods. It can be said, in the words of Pope, that he 
made the groves 

" Live in description and look green in song." 

Whether his book will be sought in the future for its 



Ohio ArchcEological and Historical Qiiarterly. 

literary value or not, there can be no doubt that it will be 
recognized as the historical daguerreotype gallery of 
woodland scenery now forever passed away. 

Pleasing as are the fine descriptive passages in this 
poem, they do not take hold of the heart, as does the 
simple, pathetic narrative, that runs, like an artery of life- 
blood, through the entire work. Never was sweeter or 
sadder story told in prose or verse. The mournful tender- 
ness of it disarms criticism and brings tears to the eyes. It 
is the record of a father's love for a beautiful, sympathetic 
child — a daughter — who was first stricken with loss of 
reason, and then with death. To the memory of this 
darling child the volume is dedicated, most touchingly. 

I give some passages from " Miami Woods," which, 
taken together, convey, though imperfectly, an idea of the 
poem, and especially of the narrative portion of it, to 
which attaches the greatest human interest : 

•' I am here — 
The same, yet not the same, as when at first. 
In mild, reflective mood, and artless verse, 
I sang thy charms, and lifted from their midst 
My heart to God. The same, yet not the same; 
For on the dial-plate of Life, since then, 
The shadow of my quickly rounding years 
Has numbered twelve. And I have wandered far, 
And much have seen of glory and of grief; 
And much have known of pleasure and of pain; 
And much have thought of human pomp and pride. 
Which are the sorriest and baldest things 
The indulgent eye of Heaven looks down upon." 

'V •;i? TJf 6if ^ ^ ♦ 

"The same, yet not the same: 
'Twas Autumn then in thy deep heart, which mourn'd 
Its Summer glories, passing fast away; 
But in my own, perpetual fountains played, 
And to perpetual hopes that cluster there. 
Gave brightest bloom. But Autumn now has come 
To my bereaved heart, which inly moans 
For withered hopes and blighted flowers of love, 
While thine is full of gushing melodies, 

And sunnier slopes, and green and blooming nooks. 

» * » « « * • 



William Davis Gallagher, 

" Far away 
The alder-thicket robed in brightest bloom, 
Is shining like a sunlit cloud at rest; 
Nearer, the brier-roses load the air 
With sweetness; and where yon half-hidden fence 
And topping cabin mark the Pioneer's 
First habitation in the wilderness. 
The gay bignonia to the ridge-pole climbs, 
The yellow willow spreads its generous shade * 
Around the cool spring's margin, and the old 
And bent catalpa waves its fan-like leaves 
And lifts its milk-white blossoms, beautiful!" 

"A summer's day 
She gathered flowers, and mock'd the birds, and blew 
The time o' the day on greybeard dandelions. 
When eve approached, we hither came, and paused, 
Struck with the various beauty of the scene. 
She sat beside me on this grassy knoll. 
That looks out on it all, and gazed and gazed 
Until the mind, so darkened now, was filled 
With light from heaven, and love for earth, and joy 
That in such pleasant places God had cast 
Our lot. We lingered till the sun went down. 
Then, silent as the shadows of the night 
That gathered round us, took our homeward way. 
#*****♦ 

♦'Oh, from this scene the bloom hath faded now; 
And that which was the soul of it to me, 
The glory and the grace, sits far away, 
Beneath the shadow of a sorrow big 
With all that can affright or overwhelm — 
My heart would break — my stricken heart would break, 
Could I not pour upon the murmuring winds. 
When thus it swells, the burden of its woe, 
In words that soothe, how sad so e'er they be. 

******* 

" Now from the stormy Huron's broad expanse. 
From Mackinaw and from the Michigan, 
Whose billows beat upon the sounding shores 
And lash the surging pines, come sweeping down 
Ice-making blasts, and raging sheets of snow; 
The heavens grow darker daily; bleakest winds 
Shriek through the naked woods; the robber owl 
Hoots from his rocking citadel all night. 

*♦**«»• 



Ohio ArchcBological and Historical Quarterly. 

•« I sing no more the passion and the pain 
That here o'ercame me; the triumphant joy 
With which, when last I bade these scenes farewell, 
I went upon my way, all starred with light, 
I sing no more forever. The sweet hope, 
That like an angel sat beside my heart 
And sang away its sorrow then, hath since 
Gone down in desolation. That which was 
The central harmony of all this song, 
The beautiful young life that to each swell 
And cadence gave the spirit that it hath. 
It is no more a bodily presence here, 
It is no more of earth; and now the last 
Faint strain of this prolonged and fitful lay, 
Which but for her and for the love she bore 
These scenes, had known no second touch, must die 
Into a murmurous sound — a sigh — a breath." 

W. H. VENABI.E. 



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